Think of Lahmacun, pronounced Lahamajoun, as super thin, crispy pizza topped with a flavor-packed mixture of minced meat with peppers, tomato, fresh herbs and earthy spices. I take a major shortcut by using quality store-bought pizza dough. But the secret is in the spice mixture!
This lahmacun recipe is the perfect prepare-ahead lunch. And it’s a great dinner on-the-go. To serve a crowd, slice it up and serve with other Mezze favorites. See serving ideas below.
What is Lahmacun and Where is it From?
Flatbreads have been a popular thing throughout the Mediterranean for ages–from Italian pizza, to Ladenia (Greek Pizza), za’atar manaqish from the Levant, to Armenian lavash and Tunisian Mlewi, to this Lahmacun, known as an Armenian specialty that’s made it’s way to Turkey.
Lahmacun, pronounced “lahma’joun”, comes from the Arabic “lahma bi’ajeen,” which literally means “dough with meat.” Think of lahmacun as perfectly thin, crispier pizza (or flatbread), topped with a spiced minced meat mixture.
It is popular in Turkey as in various parts of the Levant where the Ottoman empire once extended. And there are meat pie–or pizza–variations, including manaqish and sfiha, along with other famous flatbreads like pide and gözleme. Lahmacun is also known as Armenian pizza, Turkish pizza, Lebanese pizza, Arab pizza…It’s that popular!
How to Make this Lahmacun Recipe
Lahmacun has two different components. The dough and the meat topping.
1- The dough. I hope my Turkish friends will forgive me, I took a major shortcut with the dough here using quality store-bought pizza dough. It works very well. But if you want, you can certainly make a homemade pizza dough from scratch or use my dough recipe for manaqish.
Whether you use store-bought dough or make your own, the important thing to remember is that you need to spread the dough well to achieve a very thin flatbread that crisps around the edges when baked.
2- The meat topping. Traditionally, Turkish lahmacun is made with minced lamb, but you can also use lean ground beef. What makes the topping special is the combination of flavors.
In this lahmacun recipe, I use a food processor to create the topping. Ground lamb (or beef), mixed with sweet red peppers, shallots, garlic, tomato paste, fresh herbs, and an epic fusion of spices!
I played with the spices and arrived at a complex, earthy, warm blend of: smoked paprika, allspice, cumin, Aleppo-style pepper, a dash of cinnamon, and a pinch of cayenne. You can omit the cayenne if you need to, or add more if you like the heat!
Two ways to cook Lahmacun
To make lahmacun, the idea is to spread the spiced meat topping very thinly across the dough. You can bake the lahmacun briefly until the topping is well cooked through and the dough turns nice and crispy around the edges. Or, if you don’t feel like warming up the oven, you can try the stovetop method using a large non-stick skillet (see recipe notes below).
How to Serve Lahmacun
Lahmacun is a popular on-the-go Turkish food. When you visit Turkey, you’ll see people walking the bustling streets of Istanbul, lahmacuns in hand, wrapped up like burritos, and cold glasses of ayran (a salty yogurt drink) to wash it down.
To serve lahmacun wraps, all you need is a squeeze of fresh lemon juice on top. Add a few slices of red onions, fresh mint leaves, and maybe a few radish slices. Wrap up and enjoy!
Or, to serve a larger crowd, you can slice lahmacun up like you would a pizza and add a drizzle of tahini sauce. Consider adding more mezze favorites on the side like this easy Mediterranean salad and roasted garlic hummus.
More recipes to try:
Mediterranean-Style Zucchini Casserole
Sheet Pan Halibut and Vegetables
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Easy Lahmacun Recipe
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 to 8 people 1x
Description
Think of Lahmacun (Lahamajoun) as super thin, crispy pizza (or flatbread) known in Armenia and Turkey, topped with a flavor-packed mixture of minced meat with peppers, tomato, fresh herbs and earthy spices. I take a major shortcut by using quality store-bought pizza dough. But the secret is in the spice mixture.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1/2 lb uncooked store-bought organic pizza dough
Topping
- 1/2 sweet red pepper, cored, cut into chunks
- 1 shallot, halved
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1/2 oz fresh parsley leaves with some stem
- 7 oz ground lamb or ground beef
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp Aleppo-style pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil
- Lemon wedges for later
Instructions
- Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Adjust oven rack to the middle. (or see stove-top instructions in notes)
- Prepare the meat mixture. In the large bowl of a food processor, fitted with blade, add red peppers, shallot, garlic, and parsley. Pulse a few times to chop. To the mixture, add ground lamb (or beef). Season with spices and salt. Add tomato paste and extra virgin olive oil. Now pulse again until well-combined (about 8 to 10 pulses.)
- Prepare two large rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper (you’ll be using these to bake the Lahmacun in batches.)
- Divide the pizza dough into 4 equal balls (about 2 oz each.) Working with one ball of dough at a time, place on a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out into as thin as you can to a disk that’s about 8 or 9 inches in diameter.
- Assemble Lahmacun. Place one flatbread disk on one of the prepared pans. Reshape as needed. Spoon 3–4 tbsp topping onto dough and spread topping evenly to edges, leaving a thin boarder.
- Bake in heated oven for about 5 to 7 minutes or until dough and meat are fully cooked (dough will be a little crusty around the edges.)
- Repeat steps 5 and 6 with the remaining dough.
- Squeeze a little lemon juice on top. Serve Lahmacun hot or at room temperature. See notes below for how to serve.
Notes
- Cook’s Tip: if 1/2 lb pizza dough doesn’t seem enough for you…if it’s not giving you enough for your crowd, you can go ahead and use 1 lb pizza dough. The mixture should still be enough. If you need to feed even more people, and you need to use more pizza dough, then simply double the meat topping.
- Cook’s Tip for How to serve Lahmacun: Before you serve, squeeze just a little bit of lemon juice on Lahmacun. If you like, simply add a few slices of red onion, radish, and fresh mint leaves on top, and wrap the Lahmacun up, burrito-style. OR, to serve a larger crowd, you can slice Lahmacun like you would pizza or flatbread and serve with a drizzle of tahini sauce and a side of this easy Mediterranean salad.You can add favorite mezze.
- Cook’s Tip for How to Cook Lahmacun on Stovetop: You can cook Lahmacun on stovetop instead of heating up the oven. You will need a large non-stick skillet with a lid. Pre-heat skillet over medium heat and add just a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. Place one Lahamacun in heated skillet and cover with lid. Cook for about 5 minutes until the meat and dough are cooked through.
- Recommended for this recipe from our all-natural spice collection: smoked paprika, allspice, cumin, Aleppo-style pepper. SAVE! Create your own 6-pack of spices.
- Try our Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oils. Private Reserve and Early Harvest EVOOs from organically grown and processed Greek Koroneiki olives. SAVE! Try the EVOO Bundle!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Appetizer, Entree
- Cuisine: Turkish, Mediterranean
I love this recipe. It will be so easy to make. I was wondering if I made a batch would they freeze well and if so how would I heat them up again? I am by myself so could not eat in one sitting. But would be great for a quick lunch.
Thank you for your help.
Hi, Louise! You can definitely freeze these after they are baked. Once they are cool, place them on top of each other, with parchment paper between every lahmacun so they don’t stick to each other. Wrap the whole stack in aluminum foil and freeze for up to 2 months.
In regards to this being Armenian, we are Armenians and we eat this. It is Armenian.
In Waterdown, massachusetts which is a promiently Armenian town, it is found everywhere.
I love this recipe! My husband and I are cutting back on red meat and I am wondering if you can make any suggestions on how to make it vegetarian without using tofu?
Hi, Beth! Cooked lentils, mashed beans, or other legumes would make great protein-rich substitutes for the traditional ground meat topping here. If you give any of those a try, please stop back and let us know how it went. We may have to test it ourselves :).
Thank you for your prompt reply
I will report back!
I am a long time vegetarian. I found a recipe in a newspaper that told about Turks living in Germany, who sold Lahmacun as street food. I adapted it with beans as you suggest, and mashed them. My husband loved it and so do I.
Wonderful, Susan! Thanks so much!
Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Very nice and easy recipe to follow
Thanks for sharing
Doesn’t look like lahmacun, seems thick, the meat looks strange… And should be served with lots of parsley and lemon, that’s why it’s wrapped. Never saw people eating it on the go either
Mmm it’s okay and not completely authentic. If I were you hunt out the real recipe it’s way better. Also do make your own dough it takes no time and is so easy to make…!!!
Delicious! Easy to follow recipe and super tasty – Thank You 😊
I have had a similar version of these many years ago & I as doubtful the kids would be too keen. I served mine with sliced fresh tomato & mesclun rolled up in each slice with the lemon juice and the kids inhaled them and begged for more!
Absolutely fantastic recipe – even for fuss pots!
Delicious! Topping this with lemon and mint made this outstanding! We doubled the ingredients for 6 people and still there were no leftovers. Served it with the Mediterranean salad.
So glad you enjoyed it!
It came out really tasty but the meat wouldn’t stick to the pizza dough. What can I do to fix that? Thanks
Hard to say exactly, Misti… I’ve not had this issue before. Maybe you could try adding just a little bit of extra virgin olive oil to loosen the meat mixture. That may help it to spread and adhere to the dough a bit better.
Use a fattier meat or add oil like you mentioned.
Oh wow! I can’t wait to make to make this. A number of years ago, my husband and I were in Miami Beach and we ate at a Turkish restaurant. He ordered the Lahmacun. He liked it so much we went there the next day for lunch and he ordered it AGAIN. He has never forgotten the name of the dish of either—”La-mahzzhoun” he likes to say properly. Since then we’ve been to many other Turkish restaurants in our local area and it’s NEVER on the menu. So I think I will surprise him this year for his birthday with his own Lahmacun.
That sounds perfect, Annie! I hope he enjoys it!
Great eaay recipe. Most foods are the same ideas made using ingredients in one’s region. This is exactly that. I have used the recipe a few times now though added lemon or lime right before serving in the summer. Also I learned decades ago if you put a couple of quarry tiles in the oven while it’s heating up to bake the dough on it makes it extremely crispy. Roll as normal pizza then dip your hands in water and push your fingertips gently on the surface of the dough without pushing through. Making little divots. The more you want it to crisp up the more water divots you put. Don’t make it wet it’s more about wetting your fingers and Maki g the wet divots. Then immediately put it right on the tiles in the oven to cook. You can also use a pizzastine..I saw this trick years ago on Julia Childs show. One of her guests that is a professional bread maker from around the world gave the tip. I even make my pizza like this sometimes for a super thin crisp dough.
I love the spices and how this recipe is so differnt than traditional pizza yet still feels like comfort food or something I have made forever. Nicely done.
Thank you so much for sharing your tips, Susan! So glad you enjoy this recipe!
can i just point out that the word lahmacun is not an Armenian word…anybody can look it up, if thats the case then how can it be an Armenian food?
Hello! I go into a bit of detail about the history of Lahmacun and it’s origins in the “What is Lahmacun and Where is it From” section of the post. I encourage you to take a second look at my explanation there, and maybe even do a little deep dive on the internet if you are interested in learning more. Hope you give the recipe a try!
Just came back from a vacation in turkey and was craving this dish. I forgot to buy pizza dough so I used some thin yemeni bread I got from my local Arabic store. It was so delicious and crispy served with some lemon and baby spinach and arugula.
I don’t know why people are getting upset about where it came from. All I know is it’s good.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I didn’t have dough to work with, only a flat tortilla, so the crust cooked too quickly and it was burned, but I still ate it. Loved the spicy meat mixture though. Next time I’ll get the correct dough, which I’m sure will make all the difference. Thanks for your hard work!
Use Raw Tortilla next time or whenever you can’t find pizza dough. It works wonderfully. It doesn’t burn quickly. Meat and the tortilla cooks at the same time. That’s what I replace the dough with and it taste pretty close to the actuall Lahmacun from my home country Turkey.
Thanks for sharing, Ayse!